Quotes from Anthony Fantano

At the end of the day, I would love for the artists that I give positive reviews to to continue coming out with music. That's ultimately what I want as a fan.

Anybody could put their thoughts on a record out there. I think the world of reviews and opinions is now very much a meritocracy.

With heavy hitters like 'Who's in Control' and 'Stunde Null,' it's easy to imagine British Sea Power wailing on Flying Vs in front of a packed arena of screaming fans.

With its breezy guitars and sweet backing vocals, 'Norway' blows away any semblance of Beach House's previously bleak approach to pop.

Electronics, samples and vocals are all fed into The Log.Os' music, and a fresh take on soul comes out. The band's songs splash around in the same gene pool as neo-soul artists like Erykah Badu, but they reach forward to pull ideas from glitch-hop producers such as Flying Lotus and Prefuse 73.

I'm not trying to rub shoulders with any record executives. If rubbing shoulders in the industry is what I wanted to do then I wouldn't be doing what I'm doing.

Girls' strength lies in its diversity, and its members have walked in a lot of borrowed shoes to make it that way. 'Solitude' is a bold and sweet example of inspiration trumping originality.

King Khan and the Shrines may look and sound bizarre, but don't feel left out; it's not an exclusive club.

A lot of bands change, and a lot of bands break up, but only a few grow.

The 11-minute 'Colouring of Pigeons' takes The Knife's experimental, cerebral side to new heights.

For artists, looking back in time for ideas is commonplace, but there's an overwhelming sense of '70s and '80s nostalgia in California musician Ariel Pink's music. It's impossible to separate 'Round and Round' from the anachronism, and there's no loving one without loving the other.

After a casual listen, it might be easy to lump Rocky Votolato in with the downtrodden likes of Conor Oberst and Elliott Smith. But his songwriting is a bit more triumphant than theirs: Votolato would rather pull himself out of a gutter than wallow in it, focusing instead on the victory before the misery.

Jesu's walls of distortion are uplifting in comparison to those of its doom-driven contemporaries. The band's 2009 album 'Infinity' has its bleak moments, but that album's single 49-minute song resolves into something inspirational and grandiose by the time it's over.

The TV show 'How It's Made' brings the intricate details of assembly lines to numerous North American living rooms. But if the series were to ever branch into exposing the secrets of music production, Colin Stetson's 'New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges' would make for a mind-bending episode.

Garage-rock eccentric King Khan may be from Montreal, but his heart is almost a thousand miles away, throbbing from Atlanta to Castle City, Mont., until it hits cardiac arrest in Kalamazoo. Khan and His Shrines warn that this so-called 'Land of the Freak' is where only the strong survive, but it's a strength that can't be measured in muscle.

Holiday Shores' ambition far exceeds its members' recording budget. The band's boyish vocal harmonies wash in and out with the tide, and reverb radiates from the guitars like heat off a sun-baked parking lot.

Rather than highlighting music's differences, Kids & Explosions' Josh Raskin mixes songs together based on their surprising common ground, making them blend rhythmically and melodically.

Short-sighted music fans might scoff at the revivalism of, say, Ariel Pink, but plenty of acts have built healthy careers around the art of bringing back the past.

There are a lot of songs that, you know, just get me excited because they create a certain, I guess, set of colors in my head.

Formerly known as The Muslims, The Soft Pack brings a lot of swagger to its garage-rock sound. There's a load of gimmick-free confidence in the band's hooks, as its distorted guitars and driving drums demonstrate that less can be more.

Holy Ghost! wears its influences proudly: Look no further than the duo's video for 'I Will Come Back,' a shot-for-shot remake of the music video for New Order's 1983 single, 'Confusion.'

Every week, I'm faced with, and aware of, 10-14 different reviewable albums that, in a perfect world, I'd be able to pop a review out of. But I'm just one person who, while maintaining my sanity, can only do 5-6 reviews per week.

Brian Eno is an iconic and omnipresent pioneer in the world of ambient music, but he's gained real staying power while working behind the boards. He's produced albums for some of modern music's most influential artists, including Devo, David Bowie, U2, Coldplay, Peter Gabriel and Talking Heads.

Less is more' may be a cliche, but that doesn't mean musicians often heed that advice. Swedish singer-songwriter Kristian Matsson, who performs and records as The Tallest Man on Earth, follows it religiously.